How much wood do I need?

[The cranky hermit]

I don't know much about woodworking. I'm going to be building my first CP with a relative who does woodworking as a hobby. My CP top panel is going to look something like this:

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/files/Miscellaneous/c0nsumer_controlpanel.pdf

I want the top to open up with a hinge. I know I'll need several pieces of 3/4" thickness wood, probably pine. Could someone tell me how many pieces of wood I'll need, and what the dimensions should be? Thanks.

[Generic Eric]

Um...for some reason, it would display when I followed the link, so I downloaded it and looked at it.  The drawing is 40" x 20."  Also keep in mind you will want sides and a bottom maybe.  Is this for a stand alone CP or one you will mount on your cab?

Here is what I suggest.  Print out this picture @ 100%.  It will probably come out in at least 4 sheets of paper.  Lay out all the sheets of paper, tape them together well, roll it up and scoot over to the lumber yard.  Once your there, find out what they have in 3/4" pine.  Is Plywood acceptable?  My Home Depot has "half sheets" of Plywood and MDF for like $5 depending on what type of wood.  Don't forget the bottom and sides though.   You might get lucky, some lumber yards have knowledgable people there, and if you show them what you are doing, they might be able to help.  Remember that treehouse commercial?  

Normally, I would suggest contacting c0nsumer, but it seems he has only posted twice in the 1year plus since he registered.  You could try to PM him anyways.

Sorry I couldn't answer your question directly.

[u_rebelscum]

I don't know much about woodworking. I'm going to be building my first CP with a relative who does woodworking as a hobby. My CP top panel is going to look something like this:

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/files/Miscellaneous/c0nsumer_controlpanel.pdf

I want the top to open up with a hinge. I know I'll need several pieces of 3/4" thickness wood, probably pine. Could someone tell me how many pieces of wood I'll need, and what the dimensions should be? Thanks.

Pine is a soft wood, and will get dented if you use it as the cp without a lexan or plexi top.

My guess is the CP you linked is approx 36"x18" (guess based on pdf saying the paper is 40"x20").  You'll also need wood for the 4 sides and possibly the bottom.  But you might want to the the bottom with thinner wood, up to you.  

My approx guess numbers:

36x18 top
36x16 bottom
36x4 side, front
16x5 side, left (cut so 5" tall in back, 4" in front)
16x5 side, right (same cut above)
36x5 side, back

So with a 1/4" blade and prefect cuts you'd need a 36" wide by (18+1/4+16+1/4+4+1/4+5+1/4+5), or 49" long.  Hmm, my sizes might be a little big; if so one 36"x48" board will do it.

[RedSquirrel]

when i try and print that at 100% it just comes out on one bit of paper.. as in it prints one large section and thats it.  

[The cranky hermit]

Would plywood be a better choice than pine? I don't want to use anything other than wood if I don't have to. My relative's skills are limited to wood, and my skills are pretty much limited to tying my shoes  

And could you explain what you mean by this: (cut so 5" tall in back, 4" in front)

[Brad Lee]

The side pieces he's describing are sloped, so that the top(where the controls are) is slightly slanted(ie not flat:) )



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Hopefully straighter than that though

[u_rebelscum]

Would plywood be a better choice than pine? I don't want to use anything other than wood if I don't have to. My relative's skills are limited to wood, and my skills are pretty much limited to tying my shoes  

A hard-wood plywood will be fine (more expensive, though ).  A soft-wood plywood will dent just like pine (a soft wood).  Two other wood options are MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) and particle board.

And could you explain what you mean by this: (cut so 5" tall in back, 4" in front)

What Brad Lee said.  By the way, you can decrease those to 3" front and 4" in back; or if you are sure you won't add a trackball to 1.5" and 3".  The actual lengths should depend on the exact slope you want.

Here's a picture of one side of my trackball CP of particle board, 3" in front 4" in back:

[Amra]

Wow, mine must look huge next to everyone elses, Mine is 7" in the Back and 5" in the front...

[skirge66]

how much wood?...that all depends if you suck as a carpenter like I do...hehe. I have a larger cp than most, I used a 4X8 sheet of MDF to build my cp



Wow, mine must look huge next to everyone elses, Mine is 7" in the Back and 5" in the front...


actually mine is about those dimentions for depth...buggers heavy too...it's a double tier 4 player panel like supercade

and SirPoonga hates it..  hehe